“Demonising Carbon – a Death Wish?”

A statement by Viv Forbes, Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition.
9 March 2009

The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on all parties in the looming state election to make a clear statement on their policies regarding Emissions Trading and Carbon Taxes.

The Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition, Mr Viv Forbes, said that politicians in a state so overwhelmingly dependent on carbon energy, carbon food and taxes on carbon products can no longer hide behind hypothetical anti-carbon scare stories based on dubious climate forecasts for 100 years ahead.

“We have a real present emergency with growing fear among investors and shareholders in anything associated with mining, power generation, tourism and farming – the backbone industries of Queensland.”

“Much of this fear is generated by an insane campaign to demonise carbon dioxide, the natural atmospheric gas on which all life depends.”

“There is growing scientific recognition that carbon dioxide does not control climate – rather the other way around – temperatures rise because of solar influences and those rising temperatures expel carbon dioxide from that great carbon storehouse – the oceans”.

“There is also growing recognition that current levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are very low and the gradual increases occurring at present pose no threat to any life on earth. The reverse is true – all life will benefit from more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and the benefits will be increased by the slight warming experienced over the last one hundred years.

“We are supposed to panic over carbon dioxide levels of a miniscule 380 parts per million.

“Most life, plants and animals, probably developed with CO2 levels of about 1500 ppm – 400% above current levels. This fact is well understood by greenhouse operators who burn gas to increase CO2 levels to at least 1,000 ppm, 260% above current atmospheric levels.

“Inside populated buildings, CO2 levels of 3,000 ppm (770% above current levels) have been measured in homes, schools and offices with no ill effects. Even most Health and Safety people consider 5,000 ppm (1,300% above current levels) to be safe. Medical gas given to people with respiratory problems typically contains 50,000 ppm CO2 (13,000% above current levels) and our lung sacs retain about 65,000 ppm (16,800 % above current levels). Not until CO2 levels get to 100,000 ppm (260 times current levels) is there any concern about human health.

“All plant life will also benefit from increased carbon dioxide, and much of the extra food produced by the green revolution is the result of the warmer and more carbon-rich atmosphere.

“It seems that those who are trying to demonise carbon dioxide have a death wish for Queensland society. To achieve significant cuts in carbon emissions from man’s activities would requires massive destruction of our energy, farming, smelting, cement, transport and tourism industries, together with the jobs and prosperity of the populations that depend on them.

“The war against carbon is a war against coal, cattle, concrete, cars, electricity and breathing – who thinks Queensland can survive without these?

“It is time for the people of Queensland to be told which parties are supporting or condoning this reckless policy.”

The Carbon Sense Coalition was formed in Queensland by Australians concerned at the baseless demonisation of carbon dioxide by an unholy alliance of green extremists, vested interests and political and media opportunists. Support for “Carbon Sense” is growing rapidly. The Coalition aims to expose the lack of scientific support for the anti-carbon campaign, and the real and present threat to our industries and jobs if any of the current proposals for Emissions Trading Taxes or Carbon Taxes are enacted.

An IPCC spokesman has now made it clear: Global warming is seriously worse than everything else anywhere and always that ever was bad. Worser than that.

Chris Field is the IPCC panel member. Reuters quotes Field as saying, “The consequence of that is we are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we’ve considered seriously.”

Seriously. Fields said, “the actual trajectory of climate change is more serious” than any of the climate predictions in the IPCC’s fourth assessment report called “Climate Change 2007.” Seriously … this time it is worse than serious.

At least this worse than serious time, the IPCC is not blaming it on my non-florescent light bulbs. Reuters states :

The climate is heating up far faster than scientists had predicted, spurred by sharp increases in greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries like China and India, a top climate scientist said on Saturday.

Well maybe. There is no doubt about which countries can’t keep their carbon emissions in their pockets. And it ain’t the West. So, sure, China and India are worse than serious polluters.

But Field couldn’t leave it at that. He just had to do it. He had to throw in the doomsday sound bite. Here it comes:

“There is a real risk that human-caused climate change will accelerate the release of carbon dioxide from forest and tundra ecosystems, which have been storing a lot of carbon for thousands of years,” Field, of Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution for Science, said in a statement.

Field claims that global warming will cause huge wildfires in the tropical rain forests and will also melt the permafrost in the arctic. (That’s where all of that carbon dioxide is going to come from — er … it comes after the carbon dioxide from China and India, I guess. So man made global warming is causing non-made made global warming. This is worse than worser than serious.)

Now a first year high school chemistry student can tell you that fire burns because of, say it together class, oxygen, not carbon dioxide. Most scientists know that what this planet does not need is more oxygen in the atmosphere. A 5% richer oxygen mix in the air — and wild fires would burn and burn and never stop. But carbon dioxide causes fires? Not on this planet.

And the permafrost is going to melt? Not unless the planet gets much warmer than even the most dire IPCC predicti…. Sorry. I misspoke. This new predication is the direst IPCC prediction.

Are you starting to see the pattern? The less evidence that is found for man made global warming … the worse the predications about the outcome of global warming.

Remember the movie “Dumb and Dumber?” Al Gore and the global warming crowd need to produce a new movie: “Worse and Worser.” Seriously.

Hmmm, reminds me of something I read as a child….. Seriouser and seriouser? No, that’s right, curiouser and curiouser.

Reader Bushie from Burnett sent in this little ditty and the associated press item from The Courier Mail:

With the Ship of State virtually rudderless, Captain Bligh is off to rob the treasury in Canberra. With the economic storm worsening and as the Ship flounders towards the reef (Election date), the captain and crew are panicking.

Article from: Michael Madigan, John McCarthy and Melanie Chrisitansen
January 28, 2009 11:00pm
ANNA Bligh has made a mercy dash to Canberra in the hope of accelerating multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects to stave off a state recession.
The Premier’s trip came as inflation posted its biggest quarterly fall in more than a decade, slashing the annual rate from 5 per cent to 3.7 per cent in the face of a dramatic slowing in growth.

“Our own data shows that we are seeing a deterioration of the Queensland economy and it’s happened very rapidly,” she said.

Ms Bligh had a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The two agreed a national, co-ordinated bout of pump priming was needed.

Ms Bligh refused to reveal which projects would take priority but said the pair had agreed to “put the pedal to the metal” on major projects.

“Clearly these are unprecedented times and the PM and I are agreed to act swiftly, and carefully,” she said.

“By necessity our conversations are confidential while we get more detail on the proposals before us.”

The Consumer Price Index fell 0.3 percentage points in the December quarter, the largest quarterly fall since 1997, taking inflation to 3.7 per cent.

The figures show the decline was partially due to the drop in the price of petrol, down about 18 per cent over the quarter.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the inflation figures were a timely reminder of the effects of the financial slowdown.

“I think it’s now clear that inflation in Australia is subsiding – as it is of course around the world – and it’s subsiding in response to the global financial crisis which is slowing growth dramatically in the global economy,” Mr Swan said.

The CPI figures also showed rising food bills had kept the financial pressure on Brisbane consumers.

The overall CPI for Brisbane fell by 0.2 percentage points in the last three months of 2008 – a smaller decline than most other capital cities.

Food prices in Brisbane jumped 2.7 per cent, more than twice the increase in Perth.

The data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday showed Brisbane food bills were driven up partly by an 8.8 per cent spike in fruit and vegetable prices.

Last night the International Monetary Fund warned advanced economies were suffering their “deepest recession” since World War II.

The grim warning almost ensures the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates by up to 1 percentage point on Tuesday.

The IMF report – which will be released today in Washington – forecasts world economic growth to collapse from 3.4 per cent in 2008 to 0.5 per cent this year.

Advanced economies including the US, Europe, Japan and Australia will contract by an average 2 per cent for the year.

The economy of China is tipped to grow 6.7 per cent, down from 9 per cent last year.

This is particularly bad for Australia, with the IMF reporting that “anaemic global growth has reversed the commodity price boom”.

Contracting economies means RECESSION. If the economies contract much more than the 2% forecast above, then it would be a DEPRESSION. Now is definitely not a good time to be chasing fools gold with an expensive emissions trading scheme and the associated tax burden. It wasn’t a good idea before this – man made CO2 is NOT causing catastrophic global warming. An ETS will not reduce world CO2 emissions.

Washington DC: NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice-President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

Theon declared “climate models are useless.” “My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit,” Theon explained. “Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy,” he added.

“As Chief of several of NASA Headquarters’ programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research,” Theon wrote of his career. “This required a thorough understanding of the state of the science. I have kept up with climate science since retiring by reading books and journal articles,” Theon added. (LINK) Theon also co-authored the book “Advances in Remote Sensing Retrieval Methods.” [Note: Theon joins many current and former NASA scientists in dissenting from man-made climate fears. A small sampling includes: Aerospace engineer and physicist Dr. Michael Griffin, the former top administrator of NASA, Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology, and formerly of NASA, Geophysicist Dr. Phil Chapman, an astronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut, Award-Winning NASA Astronaut/Geologist and Moonwalker Jack Schmitt, Award-winning NASA Astronaut and Physicist Walter Cunningham of NASA’s Apollo 7, Chemist and Nuclear Engineer Robert DeFayette was formerly with NASA’s Plum Brook Reactor, Hungarian Ferenc Miskolczi, an atmospheric physicist with 30 years of experience and a former researcher with NASA’s Ames Research Center, Climatologist Dr. John Christy, Climatologist Dr. Roy W. Spencer, Atmospheric Scientist Ross Hays of NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility]

“Vice President Gore and the other promoters of man-made climate fears endless claims that the “debate is over” appear to be ignoring scientific reality,” Senator James Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee.

A U.S. Senate Minority Report released in December 2008 details over 650 international scientists who are dissenting from man-made global warming fears promoted by the UN and yourself. Many of the scientists profiled are former UN IPCC scientists and former believers in man-made climate change that have reversed their views in recent years. The report continues to grow almost daily. We have just received a request from an Italian scientist, and a Czech scientist to join the 650 dissenting scientists report. A chemist from the U.S. Naval Academy is about to be added, and more Japanese scientists are dissenting. Finally, many more meteorologists will be added and another former UN IPCC scientist is about to be included. These scientists are openly rebelling against the climate orthodoxy promoted by Gore and the UN IPCC.

Some things in the press really make my blood boil. A government body has seen fit to tell people to turn off their air conditioners in 40 degree Celsius heat to protect the climate. That statement is incredibly irresponsible on face value. What really makes my blood boil is that the request is really about MONEY!

It appears the South Australian Government back peddled on their media release. And so they should! I couldn’t find the alleged media release on the Department’s website tonight. This is the Adelaide Advertiser news report which is evidence that it ever existed.

South Australians urged not to use air conditioners in heatwave

THE State Government says a press release urging people to use alternatives to air conditioning during a 40C-plus heatwave was merely intended to save you money.

Acting Energy Minister Paul Holloway called a media conference this afternoon and told reporters the Government was “merely suggesting to consumers a range of complementary measures to help them save money”.

Citing our community’s environmental responsibilities, the Government today put our a press release saying there were many alternatives to using air conditioners, urging South Australians to instead insulate ceilings, use external blinds or a pergola to shade windows, and use fans.

Doctors said the suggestion that people should use alternatives to air conditioning during a 40C-plus heatwave was “highly dangerous” – and a strong majority of AdelaideNow readers voting in the poll on this page agreed.

Mr Holloway today said air conditioning was most effective if there was good insulation, the curtains were closed to keep direct sunlight out, air flow was directed properly and the system was well maintained.

“Certainly, it is not the Government’s intention that people should not use their air conditioners,” Mr Holloway said.

The press release issued this morning stated: “There are many ways to keep your home cool before using air conditioners.”

Australian Medical Association state president Dr Peter Ford said the elderly and infants in particular were “vulnerable to extreme temperatures”.

“This may put them at risk of acute health issues,” Dr Ford said.

“Certainly we would advocate that people utilise passive design methods of maintaining a cool environment, such as closing curtains and so on, but we would not want to provide inappropriate emphasis to people about refraining from using air conditioning.

“For some people, such advice can be highly dangerous. It can be a highly dangerous path to follow.

“Some elderly people in particular are very community conscious and become concerned about such advice and really take it to heart.”

The Opposition has branded the Government “irresponsible” for suggesting people abandon air conditioning during a week of sweltering temperatures.

“Reducing carbon emissions is fine but keeping babies, young children and the elderly healthy and cool must come first,” said Opposition energy spokesman Mitch Williams.

Is this advice appropriate in the midst of a 40C-plus heatwave? Vote in our poll on this page and have your say in the comment box below

The mercury hit 43.2C in Adelaide at 3.20pm today.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Tom Boeck said overnight temperatures should remain in the mid to high twenties, causing restless nights for some people.

An ETSA spokesman said there was no need for people not to use their air conditioners.

“We are not telling people not to use their air conditioners today. People need to make sensible decisions about their needs,” the spokesman said.

“There is no concern about meeting demand. The network performed well last summer, we have done a lot of work to make sure we can carry the demand this summer.

“We’ve upgraded and updated transformers at risk of overload, upgraded sub-station capacity in a number of areas to cope with increasing demand in those areas.

“Our job is to distribute the power people need.”

The national energy regulator NEMMCO forecasts peak demand of 2850 MW during tomorrow’s 40-plus degree day – still within an available supply of 3116 MW given grid availability.

‘Many ways to keep your house cool’

The Transport, Energy and Infrastructure Department’s energy division’s press release said residents should consider closing curtains and using portable and ceiling fans instead of air conditioners.

“Fans and evaporative cooling are good choices to minimise energy use and greenhouse gas emissions,” acting community programs manager Jim Corbett said.

Greens MP Mark Parnell said people needed to be sensible when trying to do their bit for the environment.

While his family was yet to use their air conditioner, Mr Parnell said it would likely be switched on over the coming days.

“If the house becomes too hot, we will run the air conditioner,” he said.

“There have been situations in the past where elderly people have locked themselves in their homes during extreme temperatures and they have not used air conditioners, which has caused them to suffer heat stress and even die.

“People should not be told not to use air conditioners, especially if their health is going to be put at risk.”

But he urged people to use restraint with their air conditioners and “not run them willy-nilly”.

The elderly are at particular risk of becoming heat-stressed.

In 2003, an estimated 15,000 French people – mainly elderly – died of heat stress and related illnesses during an extended period of severe temperatures.

Heatwave to last at least a week

Adelaide will swelter through at least another week of blistering heat, as maximum temperatures remain above 35C after the next two days in the forties.

The temperature is expected to reach 41C today and tomorrow, then drop slightly into the high 30s before any hope of real relief, possibly next Tuesday.

The Ambulance Service has extra crews and resources on standby to cope with the heat and fire bans are in place across the state.

Thousands of public and Catholic school students will brave a scorcher when they return to school today.

The SA Education Department allows schools to send students home after 12.30pm if the forecast is for 38C or an hour early if it hits 36C.

The decision is made by each school but those with airconditioning are less likely to be affected.

Independent school students return next Monday.

Victoria’s worst heatwave in 100 years

Meanwhile, Victoria is facing its worst heatwave in a century, with firefighters, rail operators and power companies on standby.

The extreme heat starts today with a forecast top of 38C for Melbourne followed by four days of 40C-plus.

Weather bureau senior forecaster Terry Ryan said Melbourne had not endured four straight days over 40C since 1908.

“It is the worst heatwave most will have lived through,” he said.

At Rod Laver Arena, Australian Open organisers are scrambling to prepare for searing on-court temperatures which typically are up to 10C higher than outside.

Ice vests will be provided to all players when temperatures become extreme and 10-minute breaks will be offered to women and juniors between second and third sets.

Irresponsible

What a ridiculous statement by the government! What – only use air conditioners on cold days?

And what exactly were the working conditions of the public servant and the manager who penned and authorised this request? Air-con on for at least 12 hours a day, computer and printer on at the ready, flouro lights on every x square metres to ensure there are no law suits for eye strain? Did you know that if the office temperature goes above x degrees that workers have to be sent home?

I have a father who is not as young as he used to be. When he tells me it is hotter than usual at home I am relieved when he tells me he has used the airconditioner. Hey – that’s what they are for!

On the other hand, I live in a country close to the equator. I don’t have air con in my home. That’s the main reason my Dad won’t come to visit. My son and I can handle the heat and humidity without life threatening consequences. Not so for others.

Will the public service twits responsible for this request confess that they had the air con on at work all day??????

It is really about MONEY!

In a former job I had cause to learn a bit about the workings of the electricity supply industry in Australia. In Australia, the state governments subsidise the cost of electricity as it is seen that electricity supply is an essential service and therefore should be provided at an affordable cost.

The relevant competition authority calculates what the efficient cost of electricity production should be. The electricity provider argues that up, if they can. The state government regulates the price at which the electricity supplier is allowed to sell the electricity. The state government then pays the electricity supplier the difference between the price the electricity supplier is allowed to sell electricity for and the EFFICIENT cost of production.

In each state there are a number of electicity generation plants. Some are newer and more efficient financially. These are usually coal based generators. At the most expensive end of the production chain are the diesel power generators. In order to minimise the cost of production of electicity, the electricity suppliers buy electricity from the most efficient power generator first. As demand for electricity increases beyond the capacity of that generator, the electricity supplier buys electricity from the next most efficient power generator, and so on as demand for electricity increases each hour.

The times for peak demand of electricity are hot days, and during daylight hours. During these times the electricity supplier has to buy electricity from just about every power generator available, including the much more expensive electricity from diesel generators. Electricity suppliers hate hot days. The cost of the product they are required to provide goes through the roof.

And THAT is why some government body in South Australia decided to beg the public to not use their airconditioners when 40 plus temperatures were forecast – so that the electricity supplier would not have to buy so much of the more expensive electricity from the diesel generators.

The request to not use airconditioners is not really motivated by saving the climate.

So, if even ONE person dies as a result of heat stroke which could have been prevented by turning on their air conditioner, I reckon this makes a pretty good case for manslaughter.

Some AGW alarmists suggest that the human population will be “culled” by global warming. Other extremist “environmentalists” suggest a more proactive approach to reducing the human population. Being a tad fond of life personally, and being one of those people that believe people are special (with responsibilities which go with that “specialness”), I inwardly cringe at such suggestions.

However, the reality is that this world cannot support an infinite human population. The number of human beings needs to cap sometime.

So, do we just not think about something so horrible? I mean, its not like its going to happen in our lifetimes?

Or, do we listen to global warming alarmists and resile ourselves to doom, like Dr James Lovelock?

I’m an optimistic pessimist. I think it’s wrong to assume we’ll survive 2 °C of warming: there are already too many people on Earth. At 4 °C we could not survive with even one-tenth of our current population. The reason is we would not find enough food, unless we synthesised it. Because of this, the cull during this century is going to be huge, up to 90 per cent. The number of people remaining at the end of the century will probably be a billion or less. It has happened before: between the ice ages there were bottlenecks when there were only 2000 people left. It’s happening again.

I don’t think we can react fast enough or are clever enough to handle what’s coming up

It’s a depressing outlook.

Not necessarily. I don’t think 9 billion is better than 1 billion. I see humans as rather like the first photosynthesisers, which when they first appeared on the planet caused enormous damage by releasing oxygen – a nasty, poisonous gas. It took a long time, but it turned out in the end to be of enormous benefit. I look on humans in much the same light. For the first time in its 3.5 billion years of existence, the planet has an intelligent, communicating species that can consider the whole system and even do things about it. They are not yet bright enough, they have still to evolve quite a way, but they could become a very positive contributor to planetary welfare.

Real doomsday stuff!

OK, those are two ideas that don’t really appeal to me. Is there a third, or fourth … answer?

Let’s try this one on for size – eliminate world poverty.

Yep, that’s all, that’s not much to aim for.

Isn’t it? And how would that work anyway, you say?

Ever noticed that it is the developing nations which have large families ie higher birth rates? And, if there are no devasting wars, droughts or famines for other reasons, that their populations are growing? Compare that to developed countries who rely on immigration for population growth, even with greater longevity.

Where there are high mortality rates, family sizes are larger so that parents have a greater chance of having enough surviving children to care for the parents when the parents are elderly. In relatively prosperous countries people are not as concerned with survival, and find other things to do than create and raise children. (I can provide references if anyone wants them – I am trying not to be too soap boxish.)

Therefore, eliminate poverty and the feeling of threat for survival, and birth rates drop – dramatically. If people in all countries felt reasonably prosperous, every country would have low birth rates. Natural and painless population cap.

Personally I would rather have my share of the billions of dollars of tax money, which is currently being thrown at global warming ,go towards a united global effort to eliminate poverty. With the amount of money being wasted on the global warming scaremongering, eliminating world poverty would be achievable.